The Eclipsing System of Epsilon Aurigae and its Possible Relevance to the Formation of a Planetary System

Details The Eclipsing System of Epsilon Aurigae and its Possible Relevance to the Formation of a Planetary System The Eclipsing System of Epsilon Aurigae and its Possible Relevance to the Formation of a Planetary System

Feb 1971

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1971ap%26ss..10..332k&link_type=abstract

Astrophysics and Space Science, Volume 10, Issue 2, pp.332-339

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

28

Scientific paper

Recent observations of the eclipsing system of ɛ Aurigae converge to a conclusion that its secondary (‘invisible’) component constitutes a flat disc, some 40 AU across, which is semitransparent, of constant optical depth, and dims light non-selecting without a trace of polarization. Its constituent particles must, therefore, be large in comparison with the wavelength of observation — probably greater, on the average, than 10 μ; with no upper limit imposed by the observations. The mass of this disc appears to be no less than 20 &sun;; and its mean temperature, approximately 500K. The primary component of ɛ Aurigae is an F2 Ia supergiant, probably less than one million years old; while its less massive (and, consequently, less evolved) companion has not yet reached a stellar stage. The external characteristics of this disc-like companion appear to approximate the properties that have frequently been postulated as pre-requisites for the formation of a ‘planetary system’. A hypothesis is put forward that, in the secondary component of ɛ Aurigae, we witness at present, an evolutionary process that may result in the formation of a planetary system very much more massive than our own in the astronomically near future.

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